


Until the Stars Burn Out

by Dressed_In_Darkness



Series: Chasing Summer [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Consensual Sex, M/M, POV First Person, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 10:10:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11011296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dressed_In_Darkness/pseuds/Dressed_In_Darkness
Summary: Wedding one shot set in the Chasing Summer universe





	Until the Stars Burn Out

**Author's Note:**

> "I will follow you wherever you go, for we are not two, we are one."

In the late afternoon, after waking from a nap, I found Eren out on the terrace, _senza_ clothes. He had his tattered copy of _100 Love Sonnets_ by Pablo Neruda opened on his lap. From here I could see how the edges of the front cover curled upward. I’d offered to buy him another copy one too many times before, seeing how often he read it, but he always refused. His explanation for that was simple: He loved how it looked. How the dog-eared pages showed anyone who saw it that the book had been read often. I could never find the words to tell him how I adored these little joys of his.

     When I joined him outside, he shut the book and patted the lounger beside the one he sat in. I leaned down to kiss him before I took a seat. His lips tasted of sun-ripened figs. He must’ve eaten some of the ones Petra had brought us this morning from the local market.

     “Not so fast,” he said when I went to step back. He reached out to grab a handful of my shirt. “One more.”

     I kissed him again. Then, clumsy and heavy, I flumped down on the lounger. “Okay, now I understand why you wanted to rent the villa way out on the countryside.”

     “Do you now?” He flashed me a wicked grin. The little vixen knew exactly what I was talking about.

     “We’re outside and you’re very naked.”

     “If you ask me, you’re very overdressed. _Che peccato_.”

     “I’ll remedy that once you come inside with me. We have a ton of gift baskets in there. They’re getting lonely.”

     He grinned as he stretched out. “I saw a bottle of red wine in one. I’ll go in for that.”

     I stood up. Before I could move, he nudged his head against my stomach as though he were a cat. Knowing what he wanted, I slid my fingers into his hair and smiled stupidly when his eyes fell shut in content. It had been six years since I’d met him and not a day went by that I didn’t fall in love with him all over again. No matter how familiar he became to me – the smell of his skin, the firm press of his lips in the morning, the quoting of poems – I never grew tired of him. He was home. The only person I needed to feel comfortable anywhere.   

     “ _Cafuné_ ,” he crooned.

     “That doesn’t sound Italian.” Since we’d come to Tuscany last month, he’d been spewing out Italian words and phrases whenever he had a chance to. The language was beautiful on its own, but in Eren’s sweet voice, it was intoxicating. I could listen to him speak it all day long.

     “That’s because it’s not. It’s Portuguese. It means ‘the act of tenderly running one’s fingers through another’s hair.’” He gave his head a little shake to indicate what he meant. “ _Cafuné_.”

     I let my fingers wander down the back of his neck, feeling the small hills of his bones beneath his skin. “Tell me a Greek work.”

     “ _Apodyopis_. That means ‘the act of mentally undressing someone.’” He scratched at my jeans suggestively.

     “Even at twenty-four, you’re still as insatiable as you were when you were sixteen,” I said. “Some things never change.”

     He hmphed. “You have never seriously complained about my libido.”

     “And I never will. Now get up on your feet and come inside. You’re going to fry out here.”

     “Sun-dried Eren. A delicacy that’s hard to come by.”

     “I would eat you every damn day,” I said, “but I’d rather you not be sunburned for tomorrow.”

     He bit down on his bottom lip, beaming. “Tomorrow I become Eren Ackerman at last. You kept your promise.”

     “That’s because I’ve wanted to marry you since I tied that red string around your finger.” I touched his left hand. He still wore the infinity knot ring I’d given him all those years ago. “I could buy you a better one now, you know?”

     “No other ring could replace this one. I put this on because I wanted to be yours forever. As long as that’s true, I’ll wear it.”

     I lifted him from the lounger, a cluster of warmth, then kissed him until I was certain he could feel the presence of the boy I used to be. The boy who so desperately wanted a lifetime with him that he stated, ‘I marry you’ three times in a row in hopes it would somehow bound them together. The boy he ruined for any other the moment he stepped foot in my hometown. The boy who hopelessly fell in love with him. “I can’t wait for tomorrow,” I said against his lips. “Fuck, I’ll probably cry when I see you walking down the aisle.”

     “There’s nothing wrong with that, _mon amour_. I know I’ll cry the second I see you waiting for me at the altar.” He gave my ass a smack. “Now let’s head inside. Those gift baskets are waiting to be dug into.”

     I carried him into the front room of the villa. It was small and comfortable, containing furnishings made up of soft tans and deep reds that complimented the cream-colored walls. All the gift baskets were on the coffee table. When I set him down, he hunted through them until he found the one with the wine bottle. He set it down on the couch, like so, and pushed all the cushions aside.

     “We need wine glasses!” he exclaimed, already heading to the kitchen while he spoke. He came back with two of them caught between his fingers. He put down the glasses on the coffee table, then turned to me, holding out the corkscrew that had been stuffed into the basket. “Will you do the honors, Mr. Ackerman?”

     “Certainly, Mr. Jaeger.”

     He wiggled his shoulders. “Today’s the last day you can call me that.”

     “I know, and I’m the happiest man knowing that tomorrow you’ll be taking my last name.” I picked up the wine bottle. I worked the corkscrew in and pulled out the top with an audible _pop._ I poured some into the glasses. “This would probably taste better chilled.”

     “An unconventional way to drink wine for an unconventional couple,” he said, taking one glass. He held it up and waited for me to do the same with mine before he added, “To miracles.”

     “To miracles.”

     We clinked our glasses together and drank to his miracle. The wine tasted tart, bitter, so I threw it back like it was hard liquor. Eren sipped on his as he ambled to the record player. He turned it on and lowered the needle onto the vinyl. Crackling static accompanied the sound of an electric guitar purring out a slow intro. He began to sway to the music, raising his hands up over his head, stretching out his body quite beautifully. God, his legs – long, golden, _irresistible_ – were steering my mind straight into the gutter.

     I couldn’t stay still anymore (those legs were a sin). I crossed the room to where he stood and he draped his arms over my shoulders without missing a beat. We danced, lazy, sloppy, and then I remembered something—a memory, a glimpse of the past tunneling its way into the present. Without much thought, I lifted him until his feet sat atop mine. I moved with him like this and recalled the boy who had wanted to do something completely useless and romantic. The boy who danced with me under the pale moonlight.

     “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?” he said after a while.

     “We have.”

     “That summer in Shiganshina expanded into something timeless. I can still feel it here.” He touched his chest, the skin and muscle over his heart. “The love I had for you then has grown each and every day that I’m with you. I cannot imagine ever loving someone else this way. You’re it for me, always.”

     I brought my forehead to his. “Then it’s a good thing I gave you my always a long time ago.”

     “You did, even when I couldn’t give you mine in return. You loved the me that could only promise you burned out stars.”

     “When you made that promise, you forgot about the most important star in our solar system.” I kissed him. “The sun, and that star still hasn’t burned out. You gave me your always without realizing it, Eren.”

 

\---

 

Before Eren blew into my hometown – a boy with eyes that struck me numb from the first moment I looked at him – I never imagined getting married. Sharing my life with someone wasn’t the least bit appealing to me. Back then I believed the only people I needed were Petra and Jean. But life threw me a curve ball when I least expected it to, the one that changed my outlook on the past, the present, the future. From that moment on, our life lines intertwined and tied us together. I wanted his everything for as long as I could have it.

     Now, six years later, in a room smack dab in the middle of Tuscany, I stood in front of a floor mirror adjusting my black bowtie. In an hour, I would be marrying the love of my life in a country he’d dreamt about since he was a kid. I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of him walking down the aisle toward me. It made me stupid happy.

     “Well, don’t you clean up nice,” Jean said as he came to stand beside me. He put his hand on my shoulder.

     “Eren will look better.”

     He snorted. “Eren could show up with a trash bag on and you’d still think he looks better than you.”

     “That’s true, but shut up.” I turned toward him, suddenly nervous. “Do I really look okay? Be honest with me. I can handle it.”

     He tweaked my bowtie, a wide smile beginning to form on his face. “This is the honest-to-God truth, so hear me out. If I were gay, I would bang you. Or let you bang me. Whatever makes your dick hard.”

     I rolled my eyes as I smacked him on the arm. “So much for getting a serious answer.”

     “Give me some credit, baby. That was the naked truth. Like I’d lie to you on your wedding day.”

     Petra came into the room before I could give him an earful. She was already in her bridesmaid dress, which was rose-gold and elegant. “How are we doing in here?” she asked.

     “Aside from Levi shitting bricks by the dozen, everything is going swimmingly.” Jean slid his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head. “You look edible, by the way.”

     “Stop,” she scolded, but she couldn’t hide the smile his comment had evoked. She cleared her throat, straightened her dress, then looked at me. “Eren’s ready.”

     I smiled so wide that my cheeks hurt. “I’m just about ready too. Is Erwin here?”

     She nodded. “He’s out front with the car. We can leave as soon as you’re done.”

     “I’m done,” I said straight after.

     Both laughed at my eagerness, but I just wanted to get there without delay. I wanted to see Eren’s face when he saw the location I’d picked out for the ceremony. I still couldn’t believe he trusted me with something so major, and a small part of me – miniscule – worried he wouldn’t like it, but I beat that part of me down until it lay silent. He would be happy with whatever I’d picked out, and after I read my vows to him, he would understand why, out of all the places available in Tuscany, I’d chosen that one.  

     Petra took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Then let’s head out.”

     As we walked out of the villa, I spotted Erwin leaning up against our rental car. He came bounding toward us the second we were outside, and before I knew what was happening, he had his arms around me. He squeezed.

     “Oof,” I breathed when he lifted me off my feet. I patted him on the back. “Coach, uh, can’t breathe here.”

     “Oh.” He released me with a chuckle. “I guess I got ahead of myself for a minute, but seeing you all dressed up like that—I choked up a little. I’m just so proud of the man you’ve become, Levi. You’ve come so far.”

     “Thanks, Coach.” I didn’t know what else to add to that. I was still horrible with words, especially when it came to sentimental topics such as this one.

     Erwin just smiled, because he already knew that. “Well, what are we waiting around for?” He clapped his hands. “Let’s get going. Get this show on the road.”

     We crammed into the car. I took the front seat for a change, doing my best not to wrinkle my suit. I wanted Eren to have his dream wedding. I was sure me showing up all frumpy wouldn’t be how he envisioned things.

     “Feeling all right?” Coach asked when he noticed how stiff I was sitting. “Not getting cold feet, are we?”

     “Never,” I blurted out too fast. That earned another round of laughter from the assholes in the back.

     He smiled. “I know, Levi. I was pulling your leg. I know how much you want this.”

     Jean leaned forward between the seats and poked my side. “Why are you sitting like you have something stuffed up your asshole? Did Eren give it to you too hard last night, or something?”

     “I’m not hearing this!” Erwin bellowed.

     I shot Jean a glare I hoped would chop his vocal cords in two. “No, moron. I’m trying not to wrinkle my suit.”

     “Your gay is showing,” Jean said. Petra decided to intervene by smacking him a good one on the back of the head. “Shit, Petra, I was joking around! I swear one of these days you’re going to cause me permanent brain damage.”

     “I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you can’t damage something that doesn’t exist,” I said, smirking when he flipped me off.

     Bantering with him took my mind off the nerves that were creeping up on me without warning. Although I wasn’t getting cold feet, I _was_ a bit nervous about screwing up my vows. Speaking in front of people has never been my forte. Words had a way of twisting around on me when people were staring at me.

     “There’s something on your mind. I can tell,” Petra said, patting Jean’s leg so he could move over. She scooted in his spot. “What’s bothering you?”

     I knew she would understand, so I confided in her. “I’m worried I’ll mess up on my vows.”

     “Why do you think that?”

     “You know how I get in front of people. I jumble up words.”

     She put her hand on my shoulder. “The vows you wrote aren’t for anyone but Eren. The only person you need to focus on in that moment is him. Are you nervous to recite the vows to him?”

     “No,” I said. “I want him to hear them.”

     “Then you have nothing to worry about.”

     “She’s right,” Erwin chimed in. “At my wedding, I was sweating bullets thinking about the same thing you’re thinking of now. But when it came down to it, right after Marie walked into the room, no one other than her existed. I’m sure you’ll feel the same. You do have a way of losing sight of everything else when Eren’s in the same room as you.”

     I flushed, embarrassed. “God, is it that obvious?”

     “It is,” all three of them chorused.

     Before I could sink further in my seat, Erwin added, “It’s not a bad thing, Levi. You really love him. And it’s not like he’s any better. Every time I see you with him, he just brightens up. Grisha and I were talking about it the other day.”

     “Does he really brighten up?” I asked, suddenly shy.

     Jean piped up. “He’s like the damn sun when he’s around you. All smiles and looking at you with goo-goo eyes. I mean, even a blind person could see how much he loves you.”

     “Ugh,” I groaned, feeling my cheeks get warmer. I crossed my arms over my face. Eren still held the title of the only person who could make me blush. “Just get me there before I combust. I want to see him so badly.”

 

\---

 

By the time we got there, the guests had already arrived. Familiar faces crowded around me as we got out of the car, but Erwin hustled me forward until we were where we needed to be, which was right in front of a sunflower field. The gazebo that would serve as the makeshift altar had already been set up in front of a mowed path. Strings of lights lit it up from the inside out. For a moment, I stood amid white chairs, transfixed by those lights that reminded me of a night so long ago. Then I walked toward it, toward my future.

     Everything seemed to quiet down the closer I got to it. The voices died away. The chairs blurred in my peripheral vision. All I could focus on were those lights, and just beyond that, the sunflowers that twinkled yellow like a hundred suns in the sky. Their faces were turned toward the east, seeking the light of the sun, day in and day out. That’s why I’d picked this location. I was the sunflower, and Eren, he was the sun who had chased away the darkness and lit up my world until everything felt new and warm.

     “We’re about to begin things,” someone said from behind me. I startled, but recovered quickly when I saw it was the marriage officiant. “How about we get into position?”

     I nodded and took my place in front of the gazebo. Now was when I noticed that the chairs were filling up with people. I avoided eye contact for the most part, keeping my gaze trained on the aisle.

     A few minutes later, after everyone was seated, the music began to play. My heart thumped harder in my chest. I clenched and unclenched my hands. We’d only rehearsed this once before. Eren didn’t want to become too familiar with the process. He wanted everything to be new when he experienced it, but I couldn’t help but wonder how things would turn out. What if someone forgot something important? Would they ruin the entire thing?

     Taking a deep breath to settle my nerves, I told myself to calm down. Everything would go according to plan.

     My thoughts came to an abrupt halt when the music changed to a soft tune. I lifted my eyes to see Mikasa and Armin walking down the aisle together, two art students Eren had met in Portland years ago. Then came Farlan and Isabel. Friends I’d made in Portland, as well. As they took their places, my eyes remained on the aisle. A wobbly smile appeared on my face when Jean and Petra came, looking beautiful, coming toward me with knowing smiles. Then at last the music changed one final time.

     Grisha walked Eren toward the aisle and my breath caught in my throat. Tears pricked at my eyes as Eren stood at the foot of the aisle, smiling brilliantly, triumphantly, like he’d won the lottery. When our gazes met – _I love you, I love you_ – the tears spilled over. Dressed in a white suit, Eren looked so beautiful that I couldn’t take my eyes off him for a second.

     Like Erwin predicted, no one other than Eren existed in that moment. He filled up my entire world.

     When he reached me, Grisha placing his hand in mine, I said, “I don’t have the words to explain just how beautiful you look right now.”

     “There’s no need to explain. I see you the same way.”

     The officiant cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention on him. He was speaking, I was aware of that, but I couldn’t hear a word he said. Only when Eren began to speak did I hear anything at all.

     With my hand in his, he said, “Levi, from the moment I saw you, I wanted you to be the person I fell in love with. I never believed it would happen, or that what we found in each other would change us forever. We broke each other’s hearts, but you always mended mine. No matter how much it hurt you, you brought the pieces together again and again.” He swallowed and put his hand on my chest. “The day I left Shiganshina was the day I gave you my heart. I left it behind with you and you took care of it until I returned. You still have it, Levi, and you will for the rest of my life. Today I am asking you to be my partner, and to let me be yours in return. I want to spend this life with you, and any other life after this one.” He turned to Petra and she handed him the ring, the one I’d bought at a Tiffany’s store in Trost. He slipped it onto my finger, and then kissed my hand. “Your soul and my soul have known each other long before now, and they have come together time and time again. Nothing can separate us.” He looked at me. “You never stopped searching for me, Levi, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”

     I shook my head, but no words came. At this point, I was crying so hard that my vision was a blurry mess. Then I took a deep breath and gathered myself together, because it was my turn to tell him how much this day meant to me.

     With my eyes on his, I started. “I never seem to have the words to tell you how much you mean to me, Eren. Before you came into my life, I was so angry at the world. I wanted to escape, and for a while, I thought you would hold me back from doing that, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. You freed me from myself and taught me how to love life again. I still don’t know what you see in me, but like I’ve said so many times before, I’m so glad you see it.” I held my hand out and felt Jean place the ring on my palm. I slid it onto Eren’s finger, shaking. “I never thought it was possible to love someone this much, but I do, I love you. And I picked this place because in a letter you wrote me long ago, you said you loved me like the sunflower loves the sun, but you have always been my sun, Eren, since that day on the beach.” I cupped his face. His tears wet my palms. “Stay with me.”

     “Until the stars burn out,” he replied.

     Then we kissed, and nothing else in the world mattered. There was only him.

 

\---

 

The reception was underway. The caterers were rushing around with covered trays; people were out on the dancefloor, but Eren and I had snuck off to be alone.

     “My feet are killing me,” he said, kicking off his shoes like they were a curse. “I danced too much.”

     We were hidden among the sunflowers, the sun sinking below the horizon.

     “It’ll be over soon. Then we can go home and rest,” I said.

     He shot me a look. “Rest? Don’t plan on making love to your newly acquired husband.”

     “Who do you think you’re talking to here? I fully plan on it.”

     We couldn’t escape for long. Grisha came in search for us and we returned to mingle with the guests. Then we cut our cake and Eren threw his bouquet (he’d aimed it at Petra, who caught it with a smile). I, in turn, threw his garter (basically flinging it at Jean’s face), and then we drank wine and danced some more with our family and friends. When it was over, we were both slow with fatigue, but happy. So, so happy.

     “Time to head home, kiddos,” Coach said.

     We clambered into the car after saying our goodbyes. On our way home, it began to rain. We had made it out of there just in time to avoid getting soaked. Or so I thought. Our rental car decided to give us trouble at the foot of the hill the villa stood on.

     “Unbelievable,” Erwin grumbled as he steered the car off to the side of the road. He killed the engine. “Sit tight. I’ll take a peek under the hood. It doesn’t sound too serious.”

     Eren grabbed my hand. I knew what he planned on doing before he even said it. “It’s okay, Erwin. We’ll walk from here.”

     “Are you sure? It’s coming down hard. You’ll get soaked.”

     “We’re sure,” he said, answering for me. I didn’t mind.

     He pushed open the door, shooting me a smile before we climbed out together. We started to run the instant our feet met the ground. Laughing and cursing, we made our way up to the villa. When we burst inside the front room, our clothes were pasted to us with rain water.

     “I’m freezing!” Eren shouted, already unbuttoning his shirt.

     “I’ll go get towels.”

     I went into our bathroom and grabbed two towels for us before heading back into the front room. The scene I walked in on reminded me of home. Eren was kneeling in front of the fireplace, chucking in logs like it was his life’s mission. When there were enough in the grate to last the night, he ignited them and held his hands close to the growing fire. Water dripped from his hair onto the carpet. Droplets coursed down his chest, his stomach. I followed them with my eyes until they disappeared into the waistband of his slacks.

     He turned to me when I came closer, oblivious to my thoughts. “Come here. Let’s warm up together.”

     We undressed in front of the fireplace. Our wet clothes were tossed aside, forgotten. Then we dried each other off.

     As I was setting the towel off to the side, Eren leaned in and kissed my neck. “Soggy love making,” he demanded.

     I eased him back onto the floor. “Why do you think I brought this?” I pulled out the bottle of lube I’d brought.

     He looked up at me as I uncapped it. “We’re married,” he said.

     “We’re married,” I repeated.

     “This is our first time as spouses, but we’ve had each other so many times.”

     “Getting tired of me already?” I poured some of the lubricant onto my fingers.

     He shook his head, serious. “No.”

     “Good, because I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of you.”

     I pressed his thighs open and stared down at him. Lit by the orange glow of the fire, his body was familiar to me in every way. There were no marks that I didn’t know intimately, no reactions I didn’t have committed to memory, but doing this kind of thing with him never became routine. I loved sharing myself with him this way. Loved learning the lines of his body anew. Like the small mole on his collarbone. Or the sugar brown birthmark on his left hipbone. Things of him I’d seen hundreds of times, but still loved like it was the first.

     “You still look at me the same way,” Eren said as I eased my finger into him.

     I bent down and kissed his chest. “How’s that?”

     “Like I’m the most precious thing in the world to you.”

     “That’s because you are and have been for a long time now.”

     He pushed his hips down, taking in my finger to the knuckle. I added another one and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, inching his hands up until his fingers were tangled in my wet hair. His hips stuttered to a pause as I grazed his prostate, then picked up speed, frantic. By the time I pressed a third finger inside him, he was trembling, the temperature of his body rising until beads of sweat formed on his forehead.   

     “Levi,” he said, a breath, “it’s okay already.”

     I sat back and picked up the bottle of lube. As I poured some onto myself, he loosely wound his legs around my waist and dug his heels into the small of my back, silently urging me to hurry. He was still as impatient as ever.

     I covered his body with my own, our skin warm from the fire, our breathing synchronizing as I slid into him. I set a slow pace and kept to it. Our chests rose and fell with our movements, and I could feel his heartbeat racing—a constant thumping that put me at ease. When he leaned his head up, our mouths opened under each other, the tip of his tongue tracing over mine. Pleasure spiked beneath my skin. It moved out in heat flashes, drenching me in desire.

     I wanted more. Always more.

     Sliding my hands beneath his back, I eased him up until he sat in my lap. Now we were chest to chest. Stomach to stomach. Bodies so close, I could feel every movement he made, and I knew he could feel mine.

     “I love you, Levi,” he said, face buried in my neck.

     “Eren,” I breathed out in a moan, thrusts losing rhythm.

     He came first, body shaking, hips grounding down and forward in a slow roll, over and over, until I reached my peak. Until we were both clinging onto each other, panting.

     After a while, Eren said, “Soggy love making is the best.”

     I laughed. “I take that as a sign that I didn’t screw up our first time as spouses.”

     “Trust me, you didn’t screw up.”

     I drew my head back to look at him. His cheeks were flushed, lips full and swollen from kisses. “God, you’re so gorgeous.”

     “Mm, right back at you.” He stretched his arms over his head. “I’m so tired.”

     “Then let’s go to bed,” I said. We cleaned up, and then climbed onto the sofa. Before he could fall asleep, I asked, “If you could recite a line of poetry right now, what would it be?”

     He hummed, thoughtful. Then said, “‘But our love it was stronger by far than the love of those who were older than we. Of many wiser than we. And neither the angels in Heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea can dissever my soul from your soul. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of you.’”

     I kissed his forehead. “I love you, Mr. Ackerman.”

     “I’ve been waiting all night for you to call me that.”

**Author's Note:**

> I cried so hard while writing their vows, I kid you not. They were simple and yet so... Well, you know. I hope you _Chasing Summer_ fans enjoyed their wedding. After all this time, they finally get to be married.  <3


End file.
